Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2006 15:43:58 -0400
From: m yonge
Subject: Eric A Fairy Tale revisited
DISCLAIMER: This is a story out the fantasy that is my
mind. It is a story that deals with homosexual material.
If you live in a jurisdiction that by some law or reason
prohibits you from reading this material then please do not
read any further. If homosexual material like this offends
you then you should stop reading as well.Though frankly if
homosexual material offends you I can't understand why you
would be here in the first place.
The following is a list of other stories that I have written
and posted in Nifty.org
Title Category Date
Joes-Bar Beginnings 07-Nov-02
Brother Pat Adult Youth 07-Nov-02
Arthur and Joe Beginnings 03-Apr-03
Tour Guide Adult Youth 15-Apr-03
Father Greg Adult Youth 15-Apr-03
JeffryandJason Adult Youth 18-Jul-05
Of Gord and John Beginnings 29-Aug-05
Sons of Seth and Cain Celebrity 24-Oct-05
Ham Celebrity 28-Oct-05
Aaron and Zaph Historical 14-Nov-05
What If Adult Friends 09-May-06
What If\Ralph Adult Friends 02-Dec-05
What If\The Reverend Adult Friends 06-Dec-05
What If\ The Gym Adult Friends 07-Apr-06
What If\ The Ranger Base Adult Friends 09-May-06
David and Ike Adult Youth 16-Jun-06
Patrick and the Ghost Historical(& SF/Fantasy) 22-Jun-06
The copyright of this material is mine, subject to the
agreement under this website. I trust that you will enjoy
reading the stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them.
If you have any comments to pass on, I would very much like
to have them. You can write me at: myonge@hotmail.com
Mike
Eric, A Fairy Tale Revisited and then some Chapter 1.
A long time ago in a small Duchy in medieval Germany there
was a gentleman knight who had been bereft of his dear wife,
leaving him to raise his young son by himself. The boy,
Eric, was 12 when his dear mother passed away. He had
always been close to her and he was not to be consoled for
some many days.
His father comforted him as best he could but as time passed
it seemed as though nothing could bring him back from his
grief. It was not unusual for the young lad to find solace
in his father's arms and bed at night when he was overtaken
by nightmares. The father saw this as nothing more than his
young boy needing comfort in his troubled sleep. The boy
indeed found real comfort in his father's arms, and would
often fall right back to sleep.
The boy while studying hard under the tutors his father had
hired for him, withdrew into himself more and more. He took
to spending his every free hour by himself wandering the
fields and spending endless hours beside his mother's tomb
staring off into eternity as it were.
His father, both out of desperation for his son and to salve
his own incredible loneliness took up with a woman of some
means who was also widowed. She had two sons one the age of
Eric the other two years older.
Unfortunately Eric's father didn't take a lot of notice of
the disposition of the sons or their mother, but only saw
them as company for his dear boy, company that would ease
his pain.
The woman who was of lesser nobility, much lower than she
gave herself credit for, was a haughty woman. She treated
Eric's father with the greatest of respect and honour while
they courted. It was not long after they were married
however that her true character and that of her sons started
to come out. She began to treat Eric as something only
grudgingly better than the servants. Her husband she
treated with total disdain and in a matter of only two years
drove him to his grave in sorrow.
His step-brothers at best ignored Eric for the most part.
At the worst they would make fun of him, play tricks on him
and the eldest Wulfgan would take to beating him up if the
mood struck him.
Eric was 14 when his father remarried. Wulfgan was 16 and
very much the dominant of the two brothers. Wilhelm or
Willie as he was called was about 6 months Eric's senior.
Wulfgan actually didn't play any favourites with the two
younger boys. He would punch or kick or be just generally
cruel to either of them. As a result Willie and Eric had
unconsciously agreed to some sort of non-aggression pact
with each other. Willie was just happy finally to have
someone share his brother's cruelty with. His only real
advantage was that Eric in his families eyes was somewhere
below him in status, and so treated him with the same
haughty attitude his mother and brother took. The only
difference was that it was not done with any violence,
physical or otherwise. It seemed as though Willie didn't
know how else to act. Sometimes Eric thought he recognised
an almost sad look that came over Willie's face when he
found himself having to order Eric to do something.
After the death of his father, Eric was now truly an orphan.
His step mother not a day after his father's funeral had him
moved from his room to a small drafty storage room off the
kitchen. A short time later she released most of the
servants and gave the work to Eric. It was after that, that
Wulfgan came into his own. If there was anything he could
do to make Eric's life more miserable he would go out of his
way to do it and then curse the boy because of having to go
out of his way. Eric made it his life's goal to avoid both
Wulfgan and his step-mother. He rarely if ever made eye
contact with either of them.
Since he no longer had time during the day to visit his
parents graves he would slip out at night. During the
summer it was not unusual for a passerby if he came early
enough to see the young man curled up asleep at the foot of
the tombstones. On more than one occasion the parish priest
had found him there and taken him in to the church for the
night. The old priest had always held Eric's family in high
esteem and though he didn't know what was going on he
surmised that life was anything but pleasant for young Eric.
Eric through all this kept his own counsel and even in the
confidentiality of the confessional would never divulge what
was happening.
His father, before he died had taken Eric aside one day and
together they had hidden a large sum of gold that his father
had kept from his new wife. He mourned for his son but
advised him to bide his time and to never reveal the
location of the gold to anyone.
"My son" he had said "I am so sorry for what I have done
to you, but she shall not have it all, there is enough here
to take care of you for a long time" he paused as he kissed
the boy on the forehead "I am truly sorry. you must never
tell your step mother what we have hidden here tonight,
neither Willie nor Wulfgan, nor anyone"
It was for him when he was old enough to make his own life.
It was the one thing that kept him going, that even gave him
any pleasure at all. It amused him to see his step mother
searching the house for his father's treasure that she knew
he must have had. He could even smile to himself after he
was beaten to reveal the location of the money that his Step-
mother assumed he knew the location of. He never told, he
never let on that he even knew about any money. One day he
would come into his own and then "She and her litter" would
be in the hedgerows begging for food. He was after all the
heir to all his father owned. His father had given him a
copy of the will, and he was named the sole beneficiary of
all that his father possessed. Unfortunately he was not old
enough when his father died to take possession, so he had to
bide his time. He knew it and he knew that "She" as he had
taken to referring to his step-mother as. that "she" knew it
too.
His miserable condition continued for some three years like
this. He was often beaten for the slightest reason or no
reason at all. Nothing he did was ever good.
Wulfgan finally got married and left the house. There was
actually relative peace in the household. Willie with the
pressure of his brother gone actually got reasonably civil
with Eric. He even helped him on occasion with the firewood
or tending to the garden, or animals. But only when "She"
was out of the house.
It was a bright summer day and Eric was out in garden alone,
weeding and thinning the plants. Willie and his Stepmother
had been away for several days to visit an ailing relative
though due back later that day. "She" had given him enough
work to do to keep him busy for a year.
As he worked he suddenly heard the sound of horses in the
cobble courtyard. Brushing off his hands he walked up to the
house. There he was met by several young men in bright
livery. the livery of the duke. One of the young men was
dressed much finer than the rest, obviously one of the
Duke's sons
Eric bowed low "My Lord" he greeted the man softly daring
not to look up.
Prince Richard looked down at the youth before him. About
16 or 17 years of age he thought. But for the rough clothes
and dishevelled and dirty appearance he was a goodly looking
young man.
"I am seeking the master of the house"
"Lady Gertrude is not in my Lord but I am Eric son of Sir
Robert" Eric replied again in the same subdued voice, not
lifting his face.
"Then you must be the one that I wish to speak to."
Eric waited silently head still bowed.
"You own all these land round about?"
"Yes my Lord, my father's estate includes 30000 morgan* and
the villages of Argenburg and Guttenhoft"
"Yes that is correct, are you the only person here then? I
have come to ask leave to go ahunting with my fellows in the
small forest yonder" the young Lord paused "I understand
that some of the best pheasant and partridge"
"Yes My Lord I am alone here and on behalf of my Father we
would be honoured to have you hunt on our estate"
The young duke looked down at the young man before him. If
only he would raise his head to look at him. He had seen
the young man's face well enough as he had entered the
courtyard to greet them, but as soon as the young man had
realized who he was, his eyes had been averted to the point
that man had bowed his head and refused to look up at him.
He must check this man out some other time when he didn't
have these dolts with him.
His father insisted that he have the "guardians" with him at
all times. Men who would teach him how to be a man. Men
who would teach him the manly arts and the joys of the young
woman.
As the youngest son of the Duke, he really had not much to
look forward to other then some dreary marriage to some
other youngest daughter of some other duke or margrave.
The only problem was that he was not interested
Yes he must come and visit this young man again.
With that the four turned and rode at breakneck speed out of
the court and across the pasture land toward the forest. It
was only after they had actually left the courtyard that
Eric dared raise his head to look after them.
The whole exchange had been surreal. The young Duke was as
he had been told a very handsome young man. There was that
strange stirring in his loins again that he often felt as he
thought of things like this. He remembered the first time
that he had noticed these strange feelings.
It was shortly after his father had died and he had been
moved to the kitchen. Wulfgan had come in one afternoon all
a sweat from riding with his friends. He demanded a bath be
prepared for him. What had happened resulted in both Eric
being more abused and persecuted and his never being asked
to help with a bath by Wulfgan again.
Eric had spent the next half hour running hot and cold water
up to Wulf's room. With the last bucket he found Wulfgan
was already in the tub. Eric paused, something stirred him
right into his privates as he saw the man sitting naked in
the tub. Wulfgan ordered him over to pour the last of the
water in the tub and then told Eric to wash him, handing him
a cloth.
Wulfgan leaned back in the tub as Eric carefully started to
rubdown the man's chest and belly. His own member he could
feel was hard and swollen as he knelt beside the tub. As he
washed he suddenly came in contact with what was an enormous
"something" Wulgan sat up with a shout and swung his arm to
send the startled Eric flying across the room.
"You vile creature!!!" he shouted at Eric "Get out of
here!!! Don't you ever come near me again!!!" Eric
gathered himself up and scurried out of the room.
He wasn't sure what he had done that angered his step
brother so although he was pretty sure it had to do with him
touching his member. But it was clearly not his fault and
obviously Wulf had been as aroused as he had been.
He came back to himself from his revery as he watched the
men ride off. It was a similar feeling that he was having
today. Although he had only gotten a glimpse of the man's
face he had been in full view of his leg. And the sound of
the man's voice. He was aware of the familiar slippery
fluid that was flowing from his diminishing member, that
fluid that preceeded the climax, that often came to him as
he thought about some of the boys he saw in the market
place.
But back to work he must get. He sighed
His stepmother was never concerned about him finding a wife.
His only value to her was his service, free labour. It was
one of those conveniences that he found in his situation, he
was not interested in a woman and he would never be
permitted a wife at any rate. So he treated himself when he
went to market to enjoy the sights of the other young men
there.
Later that evening as they sat at dinner in the castle Young
Duke Richard asked his father: "Father what do we know
about Sir Robert's family and estate?"
His father looked up . "Sir Robert?... I don't know of a Sir
Rob. oh do you mean down in the valley, villages of
Argenburg and the other one. is that the one?"
"Yes Father, the pheasant we are eating tonight are from his
forest."
"You went hunting in his forest?"
"Yes Father his son Eric gave us leave"
"I was just curious in that the young Eric met us having
clearly come from working the fields."
Ah yes it is a rather sad story son, Sir Robert died some
years ago about 3 now I think. Died of a broken heart I
don't wonder. Lady Gertrude. " the old duke shook his
head "Not a wise match on his part, did you see her?"
"No father Eric the son said she was away"
"Humph much to his pleasure no doubt, a most disagreeable
woman" the old man huffed.
"If he owns such an estate why would he be working in the
fields?" the young Duke thought out loud.
"No doubt his step mother ."
The ate the rest of the meal in silence. Young Duke Richard
was formulating a plan around this "interesting" young man.
He would go to visit him the next day.
Early the next morning he managed to free himself of his
"body guards" and set out for the Estate of Sir Robert.
The place was quiet as his horse clattered across the
courtyard. He dismounted and approaching the great entrance
wrapped on the door.
Presently a servant opened to him and bowed.
"I wished to speak to the son of Sir Robert."
A woman's voice was heard from behind the servant. "And who
might I ask wishes to speak to the son of Sir Robert?" A
tall proud looking woman appeared. She looked the young
Duke over before (realizing who he might be) she curtsied
slightly and motioned for him to enter "m'lord" she
acknowledged.
"May I be so bold as to know the reason of your visit"
Young Duke Richard, looked at her coolly but decided to for
the moment do her the courtesy of responding to her
question. After the conversation with his father the night
before, he had checked into the household of Lady Gertrude
and her sons. They had a history about the Duchey that was
less than admirable. She had come by her haughtiness and
cruelty honestly as both her mother and father before were
much the same. While nothing they did was truly illegal
their actions had on more that one occasion come before the
Duke, both Richard's father and grandfather before him.
So he decided that yes he would respond to her, as briefly
as possible and with just a small stir of the spoon as it
were to cause to pot to mix up a bit.
"My lady yesterday I went hunting in Sir Robert's forest
with the permission of his son and I wish to thank Sir
Robert's heir himself for a fine time. We were able to
procure a handsome brace of pheasant."
He made it a point to put the stress and accent on the word
"heir" He smiled as her face winced a the word, but
continued speaking as though nothing had happened.
"Er. well M'Lord, I must see but I believe that the "son" is
indisposed to come to the door at present." Lady Gertrude
was obviously playing for time. She wanted to talk to Eric
before the young duke did. What was he up to yesterday? He
had obviously finished more of the work she had given him
than she had expected but. when would he have had time to
talk to the Duke?
"Is he not about then? Perhaps he is in the garden as
yesterday? Shall I go an look?"
The servant/doorman, knowing that he was risking some severe
punishment, spoke up anyway, not looking at the dark look
that Lady Gertrude shot at him.
"He is about My Lord Richard, he is in the kitchen I
believe, shall I tell him you are here?"
Richard smiled at the man knowing the risk he was taking.
"Yes my good man, I will go with you, lead the way." With
that he strode past the astonished Lady and followed the
servant into the house.
Eric was busy in the kitchen with the cook preparing the
evening meal. He was chatting happily with her and was
taking a loaf of bread out of the oven when he noticed that
the cook had suddenly become quiet. He turned to see the
young duke standing in the doorway, with Johan the old
doorman standing beside him.
"You garden, you bake, is there nothing that you are not
able to do?" laughed Richard.
Eric carefully set the loaf on the table and bowed before
Richard.
Johan turned to leave, but Richard stayed him. At the same
time Lady Gertrude came rushing in, dismissing both the cook
and Johan.
"I have come to thank you, Eric is it, for a successful
hunt on your land yesterday. We dined on such pheasant as I
have never had last night. I have come to ask you to join
me this day to ride with me." Richard totally ignored the
flustered woman bustling about him.
"My Lord, my son Wilhelm is able to ride with you. I know
that Eric (there was an unpleasant tone to the way she said
the name) is not able to attend you today"
Richard did not even acknowledge her presence but looked at
Eric for a response. Eric finally had the courage to look
up at the man. "I must excuse myself My lord" Richard
could see what he thought was a welling up of tears in the
young man's eyes. "I am afraid I do not have any suitable
clothes to wear, I am ashamed"
Lady Gertrude jumped in at that point again. "My Lord my
son."
Richard cut her off "I don't want to ride with your son!"
Then turning back to Eric again with a softer gentle tone "I
wish to ride with the son of Sir Robert and I wish to ride
with him today"
The two man looked into each other's eyes, Eric with a look
of terror almost, Richard smiling.
They almost did not hear Johan speak up. "My Lady Gertrude,
His lordship wishes to ride with Master Eric, surely Wilhelm
will not deny him something suitable to wear so that we do
not disgrace the house of Sir Robert?"
All in the room looked at the lady who for the moment was
defeated. She glared furiously at Johan, who knew he was in
serious trouble but he had watched his young charge being
abused without being able to do anything for much to long.
This was his gift to Eric and it would be well worth the
price.
"It is settled then" said Richard with some finality. To
Eric he said, You go and get dressed, and this man
(gesturing to Johan) and I will prepare your horse." With
that he strode out the kitchen door toward the stables, with
Johan happy for the momentary reprieve from his impending
"doom", scurrying after him.
In the stable they saddled up one of the horses for Eric.
Johan making sure to arrange for the best of the riding
horses.
"Thank you My Lord for your kindness to young Master Eric"
Richard eyed the older man, "I thinking sir that you are not
going to have an easy day of it for your help" he smiled at
Johan, "I thank you"
Johan bowed his head with respect. In a very low voice he
replied "It will be worth it to see my young master happy
for a day my Lord"
As they came to the stall of the horse Johan had chosen
Richard remarked on the beauty of the animal, "Is this
Eric's steed?" he asked
"No My Lord, Eric has no horse. This horse belongs to Master
Wilhelm.
"I see"
No more was spoken as they saddled the horse up and took it
out into the yard. As they came out into the sunlight
Wilhelm strode out of the house dressed to go riding. He
had obviously been sent out to confront the duke.
"My Lord" he bowed low
"I'm afraid that Master Eric has pleaded to be excused, he
has taken ill. I will be more than happy to attend ."
Richard looked at the grovelling fool before him. He told
Wilhelm to hold the horse and not move. Finding out from
him where Eric was he ran into the house with Johan running
after him, not quite keeping up with him.
In the kitchen they heard the sound of a shrill angry voice
from another part of the house. The cook looking up
motioned toward the main lodging and told Johan where she
thought they were. She bowed to Richard as he strode past.
They hurried in to the main hall and up the stairs following
the sound Lady Gertrude's shrill cursing voice.
In what he later discovered to be Wilhelm's dressing room,
he saw the Lady with large willow switch beating Eric, and
screaming at him in rage.
Richard came up behind her and grabbed her arm as it came
up, wrenching the switch from her hand. He pushed her aside
forcefully enough that she stumbled and fell. He then knelt
beside Eric who was backed into a corner trying to protect
himself for his step mother's rage.
Richard looked back as Johan help Lady Gertrude back to her
feet.
"My father is Duke of this Duchy Madam, when I come and
request the pleasure of one of my subjects to ride with, I
do not expect him to be beaten for that request."
"Master Eric will ride with me today. Your servant, here
who has given you more courtesy than you deserve will not be
harmed for his assistance to me. I will find out and you
will receive the heavy hand of my father if my order is
ignored."
"Master Eric may or may not be back tonight, you need not
ask after him."
"My father will decide what is to become of this estate. and
you Madam"
That Richard was exceedingly angry was not to be doubted.
That Lady Gertrude was having trouble containing her own
rage was also not to be ignored either.
Turning to Johan, Richard said "Sir I thank you. I will be
here tomorrow to ensure that you and cook and the other
servants are safe "
Then to Eric who was still in his original clothes, he said
"Come Master Eric, we will find you something at the palace"
With that he strode out. all three men left the room,
leaving Lady Gertrude to boil in her rage by herself.
Out in the yard Wilhelm was still standing with the horse as
ordered. Richard ordered him to help Eric into the saddle.
Then he told him to tend to his mother and warned him as he
had warned his mother that the servants were not to be
harmed. The tone of his voice made it clear that there
would be trouble if his order was ignored.
The two men rode off together. Eric was in a daze over what
had happened. He smiled down at Johan and mouthed a "thank
you" to him Johan smiled back up at him and wished him a
good day as they rode off.
*Morgan - a unit of land measurement: a unit of measurement
for land area formerly used in various parts of the world
and still in use in South Africa. It is equal in South
Africa to just over 0.85 hectare (2 acres.)
[Early 17th century. From Dutch and German, with the sense
"area of land that can be plowed in a morning."]